Community split over sex education program in MISD

Published 3:43 pm, Tuesday, January 25, 2011

A community member is calling for action from the school district to educate students about abstinence, but the issue of how best to teach children about sex is being met with controversy.

Eric Fuselier, chairman of the Midland/Odessa Deanery of Catholics for Life Committee,called for people in the community to write Midland Independent School District Superintendent Ryder Warren to express their support for an abstinence-only program in schools.

However, Planned Parenthood Vice-President of Community Affairs Carla Holeva said the abstinence-plus program might be what is needed to reduce the number of teen pregnancies in Midland.

"We've had an abstinence-only program for the past 20 years in our schools, and we've seen nothing but our numbers increase," she said. "We're doing the same thing we've always done and it doesn't seem to be working."

Sex education has been offered only sparingly in the district, according to Fuselier. For this reason, he said there is no reason to believe an abstinence program wouldn't work.

The rest of the work should be done in the home, Fuselier said.

"The parent is the first and best teacher of their children," he said. "The family should be allowed to make the decision of how they want to teach their children."

Fuselier called the current sex education curriculum recommended by the MISD School Health Advisory Council "vulgar" in aletter to the editor last week. The curriculum, "It's Your Game, Keep It Real," would be presented to seventh and eighth-graders in the district, if approved by Warren and the MISD board of trustees.

The curriculum video usesanimated sexual acts, including ejaculation,to teach children and gives instructions on the use of condoms, according to Fuselier.

Warren is evaluating the advisory council's recommendation and said he would listen to arguments from both sides of the issue.

"To me the best thing is we are now talking about (sex education)," Warren said. "We know there is an issue, and we are talking about it. My main responsibility is the children, and that is the emphasis I am going to place on (my decision)."

Fuselier suggested the district use the Scott & WhiteHospital and Clinic's "Worth the Wait" curriculum or the Midland Life Center program, which has already done abstinence presentations in MISD schools.

Meanwhile, Warren placed the number of current teen pregnancies around 126 in the district.

Perhaps more troubling is the number of sexually transmitted infections, or STIs, contracted by pregnant girls in the district. Warren said of the 126 students pregnant, 120 of them tested positive for some form of STI.

That number offers more reason for an abstinence-plus program, Holeva said.

Planned Parenthood has an abstinence-plus program called "Knowledge is Power." Holeva called the program honest and medically accurate. Medically understanding sex and the consequences it could have are important, she said.

Holeva also said Planned Parenthood played no part in the health advisory council's recommendation of "It's Your Game, Keep It Real" as a sex education program. She said Planned Parenthood has never been contacted by MISD to speak about sex education.

Warren expects to make a decision about "It's Your Game, Keep It Real" soon. He would like to have a new sex education program in place by the fall semester this year.